Lavera – Illuminating Effect Fluid

Since the highlighter craze began in full force, The Amazing Blog joined in trying Benefit Cosmetics’ Watts Up! Highlighter and Rouge Bunny Rouge’s Love Lights Highlighting Powder. Both solid highlighter products gave our cheeks a heavenly glow, so we were excited to mix things up with a liquid highlighter and see the results. We were even more excited to receive the Illuminating Effect Fluid from one of our trusted brands Lavera, which has brought us so many #amazingfinds over the years from the SOS Help Hand Balm to the Powerful Lashes mascara.

The 100 per cent certified organic company has been a leader in the worldwide natural cosmetics industry since its founding in 1987. Its core mission is to create products that are ‘beautiful, natural, effective’ and sustainable. This mission is seen in everything from where the raw ingredients are sourced to product packaging and disposal.

The Illuminating Effect Fluid is no different from Lavera’s other products in its high-quality organic and natural ingredients as well as effectiveness. The highlighter, which we tried in Sheer Silver, has a light and creamy texture with pigments that naturally reflect light. It spreads easily and a little bit of this product goes a long way, even a light layer leaves a bright pearlescent sheen on your skin. While one layer of the highlighter is quite subtle and natural looking in the sun, you can build the product to create a deeper shine depending on if you want to refresh your typical look or make your cheekbones and brow bone pop. You can also use it as a foundation primer or mix it with moisturiser for an everyday glow.

The formula includes actual pearl extract to fresh your complexion and sunflower oil to smooth skin for additional radiance. Jojoba and shea butter help nourish skin with vitamins and minerals, and shea butter has even been proven to help with anti-ageing. It has also been dermatologically tested and is good for sensitive skin. You can purchase the highlighter (30ml) here for £14.90.

Eco Cosmetics Hair Mousse and Spray

Always dreamed of having that perfect red carpet hair? Mousse and hairspray are the go-to products that hairstylists recommend to achieve that va-va-voom glam hair look.  At The Amazing Blog, we think it’s time for you to try out this new natural mousse and spray that just might change your regular hair routine.

Eco-Cosmetics’ new Hair Mousse is the epitome of luxe for less. It helps to give your hair more volume and make it more manageable. We know how frustrating it is, the knots just won’t come out and the frizz doesn’t go down. However, this product really makes a difference. Its formulas are enriched with only eco-friendly and organic ingredients. It contains Pomegranate and Goji Berries, Punica Granatum Fruit Water, Linalool, and Coco-Glucoside; all these ingredients are sourced from organic farming, without synthetic dyes, perfumes and preservatives. Regardless of your needs, this natural, quality mousse works on all hair types. We found that it certainly protected, nourished, and strengthen our hair giving it a shiny and silky finish look.  The Eco Cosmetics Hair Mousse is available  here for only £9.95

The second product by Eco Cosmetics is the Hair Spray. We also highly recommend this product for gloss and volume. Like the hair mousse, it contains the same organic and natural ingredients. This Hair Spray will give the hair lift and shine without leaving it sticky. What we particularly like are the pomegranate extracts, these add moisture to ensure that the scalp and hair won't dry out. If you’re looking for that shine for your hair, Eco Cosmetics’ Hair Spray is the answer.  Grab this new product here for £9.95.

We think this hair styling duo is a great find particularly for those of you looking for a natural alternative to chemically based styling products. Unlike other hair styling products, the hair will remain flexible and shiny, even when being used daily. 100% of the total ingredients in the product are of natural origin. If you’re looking for products that are going to help you create flawless styles, this is definitely for you!  

Mineral Make-Up - Munio Miscui

Keep up with the latest make-up trends is something we take very seriously here at The Amazing Blog. Everything is always modernizing including make-up and it’s important to keep you, our readers, updated about new products. A brand known for leaving your skin looking dewy and glowing this season, is Munio Miscui, with its Mineral Make Up collection. The natural look is always something we all desire as we want our skin looking healthy, fresh and bright all day long.

We were lucky enough to be sent a few items from this range to try, this range is suitable for all skin types and has a variety of different shades in the Mineral Foundation range. We recommend applying a primer before using any of these foundations to keep your face moisturised which will also help to keep the foundation's long-lasting effect on your skin. The mineral foundation glides easily onto your skin and is easily blended with a makeup brush or beauty blender. It is perfect as it does not leave the skin oily or shiny but has a natural effect. Following these advices avoids any creases in your make-up, gives you a matte finish look and will blur any wrinkles or fine lines as well. Another product from the collection is the Skin Perfecting Veil, which is a translucent mineral powder to complete makeup look with a natural smooth finish. This product comes in two shades: Nude, very light and Tinted for darker skin tones. We recommend using it after your foundation and concealer; many people use translucent powders under the eyes and any other areas you may want to highlight and brighten up. This product is perfect for diminishing the appearance of pores, blemishes and fine lines. We also received the Bronze Natural Colour Veil, a soft and light textured powder to give your skin a natural sun-kissed look. We suggest using this product with a large powder brush, also before applying the product to your face lightly tap any excess from the brush. You can blend the product over the face and onto your neck using a circular blending motion to create a smooth complexion. The last product we received was a Mineral Blush which you can find in nine different shades.  This is a powder form that sculpts, contours and accentuates your cheekbones to give a healthy glow to your skin tone. This product is easy to blend for a delicate touch of colour on your cheeks, plus brightens up your whole appearance.

If you want a flawless look these are the products for you, the Mineral Foundation is £23.00 and you can purchase this product here.  For a subtle bronze look purchase the Bronze Natural Colour Veil for £22.00 here or smoothen out any imperfections get the Skin Perfecting Veil here for £20.00 and the Mineral Blush  here for £20.00.

Friday Favourites - Nails for Spring

At The Amazing Blog, we can never have enough nail polishes to share in the office! Whether it’s to coordinate with our latest outfits or to pack into our travel bags for a holidays, we cannot resist adding yet another polish to our collection. So today we thought we would share some of our favourite colours and brands for this season.

Starting with Only Fingers and Toes ‘Understated Chic’ Trilogy Set. When these arrived,  we instantly fell in love with the elegantly embossed recyclable packaging that sets off the nail polishes, giving a very luxurious feel. Inside there are three gorgeous shades that are on-trend but also versatile enough to be worn all year round. The polishes are all DBP, Toluene, formaldehyde and formaldehyde resin, camphor and ophthalmic acid free;  and what we particularly like is the Only Fingers and Toes supports charity ventures like Dollis Hill Dolls Nail Bar (London) Polished Girlz (US) and Shine Nail Bar (Leeds).

‘Sweet like Candy’ a pale pink shade which made the nails look glossy, perfect for daytime wear. ‘Manganese’ a khaki colour, perfect for the up and coming military trend. Our favourite of the collection was ‘Ciao’ is a pastel purple shade gorgeous for the upcoming spring season. If you want to have gorgeous and chic nails grab your Trilogy Set here for £42.

One nail polish brand you cannot go wrong with the fashion-led FNUG and we were so excited to get our hands on these.  FNUG uses the holographic nail lacquer to get your nails looking sparkly as ever. Starting off with a Aqua fix base coat, apply one layer and let it dry to enhance the holographic effect. We were sent 'Fnuglista', a pink shade that sparkles, great for a girly night out and for our futuristic fashionistas, 'Futurista' a blue sparkly shade, whilst moving ours fingers it gave a prism effect of light reflecting peacock shades. Both delicious shades for that Balmain style. Get all 'Psychedelic' with their silver holographic nail polish, giving the wearer a playful and ice cool style. These cool and vibrant trio of nail polishes are great for creating a dramatic effect. We rocked the 'Futurista' blue polish - our favourite, which worked well with both denim and our little black dresses.  

If the holographic nails aren’t your thing, then FNUG also has a coral ‘A Lister' and deep purple ‘After Party’ in regular nail polish, letting you create a more subtle look for the upcoming spring season. Get the nail polishes individually here for £12.00 each.

We couldn’t contain our excitement when Kiss sent us some of their 'Everlasting Range' which included an LED Gel Lamp, French Manicure Everlasting Gel; plus three great shades of gel polish.  'Sweet', a sea green colour which is lovely for the spring months ahead, 'Smoky', a dark grey shade which complements your smokey eye look for nights on the town and 'Lush', a bright shade of pink which is bursting full of vibrant colour.

The 'French Manicure Everlasting Gel Polish' includes french wraps, brush-on gel glue, colour gel 'Petal', base gel, top gel, gel cleanser, lint-free wipes, a buff block, manicure stick , a mini file and an instruction sheet to help you along the way. This kit provides you with everything you need for a really professional looking French Manicure.

Accompanying both kits, is the LED Gel Lamp to cure the gel evenly for chip free nails with a high gloss effect. Only 30 second drying time so perfect for when we are in a rush. When we tested out the 'Everlasting Gel Polish' we were pleasantly surprised by the simplicity of the application.  For everlasting and beautiful nails get your kit here ranging from £14.99 to £38.99.

Deborah Lippman is a celebrity and fashion manicurist who has designed opulent nail polishes for top celebs like Lady GaGa, Scarlett Johansson, Kim Kardashian and Gwyneth Paltrow, Just to name a few, and we were pleased to find out that Deborah has now graced us with her new limited edition spring collection of 8ml mini bottles, ‘Sweets for My Sweets’ which include six pastel shades from soft yellow to baby pink and we just couldn't wait to give them all a try.

Our favourite nail polish was ‘Sugar Sugar’ a pastel baby pink, an effortlessly chic shade which matches any outfit of your choice. The formula of the polish allows you to apply thinly onto your nail for a long lasting colour effect topped with a high gloss finish, completely gloop free. Like the above two brands FNUG and Only Fingers and Toes, Deborah Lippman is a 'five free' polish and is also not tested on animals.

Presented in a colourful gift box, these sets of polishes will make the perfect treat for you or your nail enthuastic pals. Add a splash of pastel to your hands with Deborah Lippman’s must-have shades for the spring here for only £27.

Rouge Bunny Rouge - Evanescence Powder and Cream Eye Shadows

Here at The Amazing Blog, we love to get dolled up, particularly with New Year's Eve just around the corner. But every now and then, a product comes along that's packaged so beautifully, we almost don't want to use it. Almost. This was the case when these products from Rouge Bunny Rouge landed on our desks. Although immaculately decorated, these products aren't just a pretty face, although ours were certainly much prettier after using them.

After admiring the beautiful presentation of the Evanescence Imperceptible Powder and Silk Aether Long-lasting Duo Cream Eye Shadow, we put them through their paces to see if they performed as well as we hoped, and we weren't disappointed. The powder is encased in an elegant black box, and embossed with a delicate floral pattern that we had to convince ourselves to disturb. Every detail has been studied to perfection to give the idea of something precious and special; from the brand logo printed on the sponge, to the sleek 'Powder Room' packaging that we adore. Out of the four shades, we tried Halo, a natural beige with a pink undertone that illuminates the skin. We couldn’t ask for a better result as the finish is so invisible it seems like we’re not wearing any make up. Suffer from dry skin? This powder doesn't cake at all, and is enriched with Vitamin C and E, anti-oxidants and has an anti-wrinkle function, so you look flawless all night long.

With skin sorted, perfect your eyes with the brand's creamy shadows. We loved the low key shades in the Gossamer Wing duo, perfect for a neutral smoky look. With a light, soft beige on  one side, and a darker velvety 'cafe au lait' shade on the other, we think this is a duo that would look wonderful on everyone. Wear them alone or together, and the shades are perfect for taking you from a day at the office to a night on the town. With it's creamy texture, there's no need to worry about shadows dropping down and making a mess, as you would if you were creating the same look with powders, and the setting formula really does last all night. The formula has extracts from coffee and para cress flower that help produce collagen and elastin, caring for your lids whilst making you look amazing.

Learn how to look younger and beautiful in one touch and get the imperceptible powder here for £37 and the duo eyeshadow for £35 here.